Network relay apparatus

ABSTRACT

A network relay apparatus which conducts data transfer by using a plurality of network LSIs includes a transfer engine unit having at least two network LSIs and a central control unit which controls the operation state of the network relay apparatus. The transfer engine unit includes the network LSIs capable of changing over at least one of a clock and an operation which differ every function block, a load judgment unit for judging a load laid upon each of function blocks in the network LSI, and a frequency voltage control unit for individually changing over at least one of the clock and operation voltage supplied to each function block on the basis of the load judged by the load judgment unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No.13/005,672, filed Jan. 13, 2011; which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 12/197,584, filed Aug. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,904,582;which claims priorities from Japanese applications JP2007-219184 filedon Aug. 27, 2007, and JP2008-150056 filed on Jun. 9, 2008, the contentsof which are hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a network relay apparatus forconducting data transfer, and in particular to a network relay apparatuswhich reduces power consumption.

In Internet service providers and basic networks of intra-enterprisenetworks, network relay apparatuses which transfer frames by using aplurality of network LSIs are becoming utilized. In such a network relayapparatus, all network LSIs have operated conventionally with a clockand an operation voltage which maximizes the performance regardless ofwhether the network traffic is large or small. Even if the data transferquantity is small, therefore, the power consumption cannot be reduced.When the network traffic is small depending upon the time zone and time,wasteful power consumption is caused.

In JP-A-2003-87296, system clock frequency control is exercised bymonitoring the connection state every line and monitoring the flow ofthe network traffic in order to reduce the power consumption in thenetwork relay apparatus. In JP-A-2003-87296, movement to a low powerconsumption state is conducted in a line in the network relay apparatuswhen a connection state is not detected or when data communication isnot generated over a long time period. Furthermore, system clockfrequency control is exercised according to the flow of the networktraffic.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this scheme, however, frames are discarded when an abrupt change hasoccurred in the network traffic. Since the current network relayapparatus is utilized as an infrastructure of the society, it is notdesirable to discard frames.

The present invention has been made to solve the problem. An object ofthe present invention is to provide a technique for minimizing thediscarded frames and reducing the power consumption in a network relayapparatus which conducts data transfer by using a plurality of networkLSIs.

The present invention provides a network relay apparatus which areconnected to a plurality of lines and which conducts data transfer byusing a plurality of network LSIs. The network relay apparatus includesa transfer engine unit having at least two network LSIs and a centralcontrol unit which controls the operation state of the network relayapparatus. The network relay apparatus includes a plurality of networkLSIs capable of changing over at least one of a clock and an operationvoltage which differ every function block individually implementing afunction as components of the transfer engine unit. In addition, thenetwork LSI includes a plurality of function blocks which individuallyimplement functions for conducting data transfer therein, a loadjudgment unit for judging a load laid upon each of the function blocksor a load of each of the lines, and a frequency voltage control unit forindividually changing over at least one of the clock and operationvoltage supplied to each function block on the basis of the load of eachfunction block or line judged by the load judgment unit.

In the network relay apparatus according to the present invention, powerconsumption of a network LSI is reduced by making at least one of theclock and operation voltage while taking a function block as the unitwhen the load for the network LSI does not need maximum performance.

In the network relay apparatus, the load judgment unit may judge theline load on the basis of a result of reception load measurement on aline. As one of reception load measurement methods in the network relayapparatus, a frame length of an immediately preceding frame and an IFGlength are measured. As a result, instantaneous network traffic can bemeasured. Therefore, a maximum value of network traffic measured withina definite time period is regarded as the reception load. The networkrelay apparatus may execute flow control prescribed in IEEE 802.3xaccording to the line processing capability at the time of powerconsumption reduction.

In the network relay apparatus, the central control unit may judge anoperation state of a line by analyzing a control information framereceived from another network relay apparatus and give a notice of theoperation state to the load judgment unit and the load judgment unit mayjudge the line load on the basis of the operation state of the linegiven as the notice. For example, in operation of the network relayapparatus, lines or apparatuses which are not used substantially arespecified in some cases according to a network protocol or a policy inthe network operation. Specifically, in the Ring protocol prescribed inRFC 3619, STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) prescribed in IEEE 802.ld, VRRP(Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol) prescribed in RFC 2338, GSRP(Gigabit Switch Redundancy Protocol) provided by ALAXALA NETWORKS CORP,VSRP (Virtual Switch Redundancy Protocol) provided by Foundry Networks,and FVRP (Force10 VLAN Redundancy Protocol) provided by Force10Networks, a specific line is specified to be a standby system line insome cases. In this way, the line specified to be, for example, in thestandby system (operation state represented as standby system) can bejudged to have a line load of a level of transmitting and receiving acontrol information frame.

In the VRRP, GSRP, VSRP and FVRP, a network relay apparatus is specifiedto be a standby system apparatus in some cases.

Paying attention to a reception load of a line in the network relayapparatus is equal to a transmission load of a line in an oppositeapparatus, the opposite apparatus for the network relay apparatus maystore a scheduled load of the transmission load in a control informationframe and give a notice to the network relay apparatus, and uponreceiving the control information frame, the network relay apparatus mayinclude a frame analysis unit for analyzing the control informationframe and giving notice of the scheduled load of the line to the loadjudgment unit and the load judgment unit may judge a load of the line onthe basis of the scheduled load of the line.

At this time, the opposite apparatus may include a control informationgeneration unit for generating control information to be transmitted tothe network relay apparatus, and generate control information on thebasis of a transmission load.

The network relay apparatus may further include a frame transmissioncontrol unit for controlling frame transmission to another network relayapparatus, and the frame transmission control unit may exercise bandcontrol by taking a scheduled load of a line obtained from the controlinformation frame as an upper limit. It becomes possible for the networkrelay apparatus to specify a scheduled load on a line connected to theopposite apparatus and conduct data communication. In some cases,however, the network relay apparatus transmits network traffic whichexceeds a reception load which can be processed by the oppositeapparatus because of a temporary increase of network traffic. At thistime, it becomes possible to keep the reception load of the oppositeapparatus in a processible range by executing band control with thescheduled load preset as an upper limit on the transmission load of thenetwork relay apparatus.

In the network relay apparatus, the frame transmission control unit mayfurther execute delay control on the frame transmission side on a framewhich needs delay control, as preferential control. It is consideredthat a delay longer than that in the conventional technique occurs inthe frame transfer processing when the band control with the scheduledload preset as the upper limit is conducted on the transmission load ofthe network relay apparatus. In communication in which a delay inarrival time poses a problem, such as IP telephone, it is necessary toexercise delay control on data and transfer the data with a low delay.In the case where frame discarding occurs when the band control with thescheduled load preset as the upper limit is conducted on thetransmission load of the network relay apparatus, it is considered to bedifficult to discriminate a preferential frame and protect it whileconducting reception processing in the network relay apparatus. If it isfound that frame discarding occurs, therefore, the opposite apparatusmay exercise discarding control by discarding frames having a lowpriority while conducting transmission processing.

In the network relay apparatus, the load judgment unit may judge a loadof a line on the basis of a link up state of the line given as a noticeby the central control unit. In the network relay apparatus, there are acase where each line is linked up and a case where the line is notlinked up. Even if linked up, the link up speed differs from line toline in some cases. If the linked up line speed is slow, therefore, theline speed can be considered to be an upper limit of the line load.

The network relay apparatus may further include a load informationtransmission unit for exchanging load information between the networkLSIs and the load judgment unit may judge a load in a specific functionblock by adding up loads of a plurality of lines. In the transfer engineunit including a plurality of network LSIs, frame transfer processing isconducted in the network LSIs and consequently transmission to anothernetwork LSI is conducted by binding a plurality of lines into a channel.At this time, a load laid upon the channel can be regarded as the sumtotal of loads of the lines. This channel exists in both a network LSIwhich transmits data and a network LSI which receives the data.

In the network relay apparatus, the load judgment unit may judge a loadin the specific function block by adding up loads laid upon all lines bythe load information transmission unit. In the transfer engine unitincluding a plurality of network LSIs, frame transfer processing isconducted in the network LSIs and consequently a load laid upon a partof the network relay apparatus serving as a switch fabric can beregarded as the sum total of loads of all lines.

In the network relay apparatus, the central control unit may judge anunused function on the basis of the operation state of the network relayapparatus and give a notice of the unused function to the load judgmentunit and the load judgment unit may judge a load in the pertinentfunction block. In many cases, additional functions such as astatistical function and a QoS control function are adopted besides thedata transfer in the network relay apparatus. A network manager choosesnecessary functions from among these functions and makes them operate.Function blocks for implementing functions which have not been chosen atthis time can be judged to be light in load.

According to the present invention, it is possible to minimize thediscarded frames and reduce the power consumption in a network relayapparatus which conducts data transfer by using a plurality of networkLSIs.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the embodiments of theinvention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a network relayapparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing function blocks obtained by dividing theinside of a search LSI 103;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing function blocks obtained by dividing theinside of a transfer LSI 104;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing function blocks obtained by dividing theinside of a switch LSI 105;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of line state judgment processing conducted everyframe reception;

FIG. 6 is a network traffic variation graph (1) at the time when bandcontrol processing is not executed;

FIG. 7 is a network traffic variation graph (1) at the time when bandcontrol processing is executed;

FIG. 8 is a network traffic variation graph (2) at the time when bandcontrol processing is not executed;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of scheduled load variation judgment processing;

FIG. 10 is a network traffic variation graph (2) at the time when bandcontrol processing is executed;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a subnetwork which includes network relayapparatuses and management servers;

FIG. 12 is a graph (1) obtained when the scheduled load is judged on thebasis of scheduled load information given as a notice by a managementserver and processing performance is changed; and

FIG. 13 is a graph (2) obtained when the scheduled load is judged on thebasis of scheduled load information given as a notice by a managementserver and processing performance is changed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a network relay apparatus 100 having atransfer engine unit 101 formed of a plurality of network LSIs and acentral control unit 102 which controls the operation state of thenetwork relay apparatus 100. The transfer engine unit 101 shown in FIG.1 includes eight search LSIs 103, four transfer LSIs 104, and fourswitch LSIs 105. Each network LSI has channels which connect networkLSIs and executes data transfer through the channels.

The search LSI 103 is connected to a plurality of external network lineswhich are not shown in FIG. 1. The search LSI 103 judges a frametransfer destination port of the network relay apparatus on the basis ofheader information in frame data, and transfers the frame data to atransfer LSI 104. The transfer LSI 104 transfers the frame datatransferred from the search LSI 103 to the four switch LSIs 105 on thebasis of a load distribution scheme. Each of the switch LSIs 105transfers the frame data to a search LSI 103 having a frame transferdestination port of the frame data. The search LSI 103 transfers theframe data to an external network line connected to the frame transferdestination port of the frame data. The eight search LSIs 103 areconnected to all of the four switch LSIs 105 via the four transfer LSIs104. Therefore, each of the eight search LSIs 103 connected to theexternal network lines bidirectionally can be connected to an arbitraryswitch LSI 105 via a transfer LSI 104 connected to the search LSI 103.Since the central control unit shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the fourswitch LSIs 105, a frame transferred from an arbitrary search LSI 103can reach the central control unit 102.

Herein, the search LSIs 103, the transfer LSIs 104 and the switch LSIs105 are simply referred to as “network LSIs” as well. The transfer LSIs104 capable of conducting transmission and reception are used in thepresent embodiment. Alternatively, transfer LSIs for reception (notillustrated) and transfer LSIs for transmission (not illustrated) may beprovided separately. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the searchLSIs 103 may also be divided according to functions besides thetransmission and reception. In such a divisional configuration, eachdivision may be formed of one LSI, or each division may be formed ofseparate LSIs.

In the present embodiment, frame transfer is executed in a configurationhaving the transfer LSIs 104 arranged between the search LSIs 103 andthe switch LSIs 105. Alternatively, the frame transfer may be executedin a configuration in which the search LSIs 103 are connected to theswitch LSIs 105 directly.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing function blocks obtained by dividing theinside of the search LSI 103.

The search LSI 103 includes:

down link interface blocks 201 each serving as an interface to anexternal network line;

ingress side down link blocks 202 respectively connected inside the downlink interface (I/F) blocks 201;

egress side down link blocks 203 respectively connected inside the downlink interface blocks 201;

an ingress side line collection block 204 for collecting the ingressside down link blocks 202;

an egress side line collection block 205 for collecting the egress sidedown link blocks 203;

a search memory interface block 206 serving as an interface to anexternal memory for search table which is not illustrated in FIG. 2;

a search memory access block 207 connected inside the search memoryinterface block 206;

a buffer memory interface block 211 serving as an interface to anexternal memory for buffer which is not illustrated in FIG. 2;

a buffer memory access block 212 connected inside the buffer memoryinterface block 211;

an up link interface block 216 serving as an interface to the transferLSI 104;

an ingress side up link block 217 connected inside the up link interfaceblock 216;

an egress side up link block 218 connected inside the up link interfaceblock 216;

a data processing block 219 for transferring data among the ingress sideline collection block 204, the egress side line collection block 205,the search memory access block 207, the ingress side up link block 217,and the egress side up link block 218;

a QoS control function block 220 for implementing a QoS controlfunction;

a statistical function block 221 for implementing a statisticalfunction;

an ingress side line load measurement block 222 for measuring a lineload of the ingress side in the ingress side down link block 202;

a frame analysis block 223 for analyzing a frame of the ingress side inthe ingress side down link block 202;

an ingress side load measurement block 224 for measuring a line load ofevery frame transfer destination port of the ingress side in the dataprocessing block 219;

an egress side load measurement block 225 for measuring a line (channel)load of the egress side in the data processing block 219;

a control information generation block 226 for generating controlinformation from a load judgment result of the egress side in the dataprocessing block 219;

frame transmission control blocks 227 for executing preferential controlof the egress side in the data processing block 219;

a frequency voltage control block 228 for supplying a clock and anoperation voltage to each function block on the basis of load judgmentresults;

a load information transmission block 229 for exchanging loadinformation with another network LSI; and

a load judgment control block 230 for judging a load of every pertinentfunction block by judging loads of lines and loads of function blocks.

The search LSI 103 in the present embodiment has a function of judging aframe transfer destination port of the network relay apparatus on thebasis of information in a frame header in a received frame andtransferring frame data, a function of transferring frame data inaccordance with a frame transfer destination port in frame dataexpansion information transferred from the transfer LSI 104, and afunction of judging a frame for control information exchanged betweennetwork relay apparatuses and transferring the frame to the centralcontrol unit 102.

The search LSI 103 further has a statistical function of, for example,counting the frame transfer quantity.

The search LSI 103 further has a QoS control function of searching a QoScondition table preset by an apparatus manager by using a combination ofpacket header conditions as a search key, determining priority oftransfer processing of packets in the apparatus, and conductingprocessing preferentially on a packet judged to be high in priority.

The search LSI 103 further has at least one of “a function of convertinga frame to a frame format with expansion information such as a frametransfer destination port added and transmitting a resultant frame tothe transfer LSI 104” and “a function of dividing a frame and expansioninformation in cell formats and transmitting resultant cell format datato the transfer LSI 104, and a function of restoring cell format datareceived from the transfer LSI 104 to a frame and transmitting the frameto an external network line.”

In the present embodiment, the search LSI 103 conducts following ingressprocessing on frame data as described hereafter.

The down link interface block 201 receives frame data and transfers theframe data to the ingress side down link block 202. In addition, framedata of each line is transferred from the ingress side down link block202 to the ingress side line collection block 204.

At this time, the ingress side line collection block 204 may collectframe data of lines by using time division control.

The frame data in the ingress side line collection block 204 istransferred to the external memory for buffer by the data processingblock 219. In the transfer to the external memory for buffer, the framedata is transferred from the data processing block 219 to the externalmemory for buffer via the buffer memory access block 212 and the buffermemory interface block 211. In addition, the data processing block 219searches for a frame transfer destination port for the frame data. Atthis time, access to the external memory for search table is conductedthrough the search memory access block 207 and the search memoryinterface block 206. Frame data finished in search processing istransferred from the external memory for buffer to the data processingblock 219 via the buffer memory interface block 211 and the buffermemory access block 212. The frame data is provided in the dataprocessing block 219 with frame data expansion information containingthe frame transfer destination port information obtained by the searchand transferred to the ingress side up link block 217.

At this time, the data processing block 219 may conduct the frame datatransfer processing by using arbitration control between blocks.

The frame data in the ingress side up link block 217 is transferred tothe transfer LSI 104 via the up link interface block 216.

The search LSI 103 conducts egress processing on frame data as describedhereafter.

The up link interface block 216 receives frame data and transfers theframe data to the egress side up link block 218. The frame data in theegress side up link block 218 is transferred to the external memory forbuffer by the data processing block 219. In the transfer to the externalmemory for buffer, the frame data is transferred from the dataprocessing block 219 to the external memory for buffer via the buffermemory access block 212 and the buffer memory interface block 211. Theframe data in the external memory for buffer is transferred to theegress side line collection block 205 via the buffer memory interfaceblock 211, the buffer memory access block 212 and the data processingblock 219. The frame data in the egress side line collection block 205is transferred to the egress side down link block 203 connected to aframe transfer destination port, in accordance with frame transferdestination port information contained in frame data expansioninformation.

At this time, the egress side line collection block 205 may collectframe data of lines by using time division control.

The frame data in the egress side down link block 203 is transferred toan external network line via the down link interface block 201.

In the present invention, the search LSI 103 further has (1) “frameanalysis function” of receiving a frame for control information storedwith a scheduled load of a transmission traffic and transmitted by anopposite apparatus, via the down link interface block 201, finding ascheduled load of a reception side line by analyzing the received framefor control information and notifying the load judgment control block230, as a frame analysis function of the frame analysis block 223.

By the way, the frame analysis block 223 in the search LSI 103 is simplyreferred to as “frame analysis unit” as well.

The frame analysis function of the frame analysis block 223 in thesearch LSI 103 may be implemented in the central control unit 102. Thesearch LSI 103 further has at least one of the following functions (2)to (8) as a load judgment function of the load judgment control block230.

(2) “Reception load judgment function” of judging, as ingress sideprocessing, the line load on the basis of a line load measurement resultof reception processing (ingress processing) measured by the ingressside line load measurement block 222

(3) “Transmission load judgment function” of judging, as egress sideprocessing, the line load on the basis of a line load measurement resultof transmission processing (egress processing) measured by the egressside line load measurement block 225

(4) “Line state judgment function” of judging an upper limit line loadif the line is judged to be a standby system line on the basis of ananalysis result of a control information frame exchanged between networkrelay apparatuses

(5) “Scheduled load judgment function” of knowing a scheduled load of areception side line on the basis of notice of the scheduled load of theline which is obtained as a result of an analysis conducted by the frameanalysis block 223 on the control information frame transmitted from theopposite apparatus

(6) “Line load upper limit judgment function” of judging an upper limitof a load of a line on the basis of a link up state of the line given asa notice by the central control unit 102

(7) “Load prediction and judgment function” of predicting and judgingload information by causing load information judged and measured by aload judgment control block or each function block in another networkLSI to be given as a notice via the load information transmission block229

(8) “Function control load judgment function” of judging a load of afunction block on the basis of information of an unnecessary functiongiven as a notice by the central control unit 102 on the basis of anoperation state of the network relay apparatus

The load judgment control block 230 determines a load judgment result ofevery function block on the basis of a combination of one or more loadjudgment functions from among (2) to (8). On the basis of the loadjudgment result of every function block thus determined, the frequencyvoltage control block 228 supplies a clock and an operation voltage toeach function block.

The search LSI 103 further has (9) “control information generationfunction” of generating scheduled load information to be transmitted tothe opposite apparatus on the basis of a load judgment result of anegress side line obtained by using the (3) “transmission load judgmentfunction” as a control information generation function of the controlinformation generation block 226.

By the way, the control information generation block 226 in the searchLSI 103 is simply referred to as “control information generation unit”as well.

The function of the control information generation block 226 in thesearch LSI 103 may be implemented in the central control unit 102.

The search LSI 103 further has at least one of (10) “band controlfunction” of conducting transmission by using a band matched to thescheduled load information as a band of transmission to the oppositeapparatus, (11) “delay control function” of reducing the latency bypreferentially transmitting a frame which must be transmitted with a lowlatency during execution of the band control, and (12) “discardingcontrol function” of executing discarding of a low priority frame whenframe discarding occurs during execution of the band control.

By the way, the frame transmission control block 227 in the search LSI103 is simply referred to as “frame transmission control unit” as well.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing function blocks obtained by dividing theinside of the transfer LSI 104.

The transfer LSI 104 includes:

down link interface blocks 301 each serving as an interface to thesearch LSI 103;

ingress side down link blocks 302 respectively connected inside the downlink interface block 301;

egress side down link blocks 303 respectively connected inside the downlink interface block 301;

an ingress side down link collection block 304 for collecting theingress side down link blocks 302;

an egress side down link collection block 305 for collecting the egressside down link blocks 303;

up link interface blocks 306 each serving as an interface to the switchLSI 105;

ingress side up link blocks 307 respectively connected inside the uplink interface block 306;

egress side up link blocks 308 respectively connected inside the up linkinterface block 306;

an ingress side up link collection block 309 for collecting the ingressside up link blocks 307;

an egress side up link collection block 310 for collecting the egressside up link blocks 308;

a data processing block 311 for transferring data among the ingress sidedown link collection block 304, the egress side down link collectionblock 305, the ingress side up link collection block 309, and the egressside up link collection block 310;

a statistical function block 312 for implementing a statisticalfunction;

an ingress side load measurement block 313 for measuring a line(channel) load of the ingress side in the ingress side down link block302;

an egress side load measurement block 314 for measuring a line (channel)load of the egress side in the egress side up link block 308;

a frequency voltage control block 315 for supplying a clock and anoperation voltage to each function block on the basis of load judgmentresults;

a load information transmission block 316 for exchanging loadinformation with another network LSI; and

a load judgment control block 317 for judging a load of every functionblock by judging loads of lines (channels) and loads of function blocks.

The transfer LSI 104 has a function of transferring frame data receivedfrom the search LSI 103 to the switch LSI 105, and a function oftransferring frame data received from the switch LSI 105 to a pertinentsearch LSI 103 on the basis of expansion information containing transferdestination port information.

In the case where the data format between the search LSI 103 and thetransfer LSI 104 is the frame format, the transfer LSI 104 may have atleast one of “a function of dividing frames and expansion informationsuch as a frame transfer destination port into cell format data,transferring the cell format data to the switch LSI 105, restoring cellformat data received from the switch LSI 105 to frames, and transmittingthe frames to an external network line” and “a function of dividingframes and expansion information into bit slice formats each having aplurality of bits, transferring the bit slice format data to the switchLSI 105, restoring bit slice format data to frames, and transmitting theframes to an external network line.”

The transfer LSI 104 further has a statistical function of, for example,counting the frame data transfer quantity.

In the present embodiment, the transfer LSI 104 conducts followingingress processing on frame data as described hereafter.

The down link interface block 301 receives frame data and transfers theframe data to the ingress side down link block 302. In addition, framedata of each channel is transferred from the ingress side down linkblock 302 to the ingress side down link collection block 304.

At this time, the ingress side line collection block 304 may collectframe data of channels by using time division control.

The frame data in the ingress side down link collection block 304 istransferred to the ingress side up link collection block 309 by the dataprocessing block 311.

At this time, the data processing block 311 may conduct the frame datatransfer processing by using arbitration control between blocks.

The frame data in the ingress side up ink collection block 309 istransferred to an ingress side up link block 307 connected to a switchLSI 105 which is specified on the basis of the load distribution scheme.

At this time, the ingress side up link collection block 309 may collectframe data of channels by using time division control.

The frame data in the ingress side up link block 307 is transferred tothe switch LSI 105 via the up link interface block 306.

The transfer LSI 104 conducts egress processing on frame data asdescribed hereafter.

The up link interface block 306 receives frame data and transfers theframe data to the egress side up link block 308. In addition, frame dataon each channel is transferred from the egress side up link block 308 tothe egress side up link collection block 310.

At this time, the egress side up link collection block 310 may collectframe data of channels by using time division control.

The frame data in the egress side up link collection block 310 istransferred to the egress side down link collection block 305 by thedata processing block 311. Frame data in the egress side down linkcollection block 305 is transferred to the egress side down link block303 connected to a search LSI 103 having a frame transfer destinationport in accordance with frame transfer destination port informationcontained in frame data expansion information.

At this time, the egress side down link collection block 303 may collectframe data of channels by using time division control. The frame data inthe egress side down link block 303 is transferred to the search LSI 103via the down link interface block 301.

In the present invention, the transfer LSI 104 further has at least oneof the following functions (13) to (16) as a load judgment function ofthe load judgment control block 317.

(13) “Reception load judgment function” of judging, as ingress sideprocessing, the channel load on the basis of a channel load measurementresult of reception processing (ingress processing) measured by theingress side load measurement block 313

(14) “Transmission load judgment function” of judging, as egress sideprocessing, the channel load on the basis of a channel load measurementresult of transmission processing (egress processing) measured by theegress side load measurement block 314

(15) “Load prediction and judgment function” of predicting and judgingload information by causing load information judged and measured by aload judgment control block or each function block in another networkLSI to be given as a notice via the load information transmission block316

(16) “Function control load judgment function” of judging a load of afunction block on the basis of information of an unnecessary functiongiven as a notice by the central control unit 102 on the basis of anoperation state of the network relay apparatus

The load judgment control block 317 determines a load judgment result ofeach function block on the basis of a combination of one or more loadjudgment functions from among (13) to (16). On the basis of the loadjudgment result of each function block thus determined, the frequencyvoltage control block 315 supplies a clock and an operation voltage toeach function block.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing function blocks obtained by dividing theinside of the switch LSI 105.

The switch LSI 105 includes:

ingress side interface blocks 401 each serving as an ingress sideinterface to the transfer LSI 104;

ingress side data channel blocks 402 respectively connected inside theingress side interface blocks 401;

egress side interface blocks 403 each serving as an egress sideinterface to the transfer LSI 104;

egress side data channel blocks 404 respectively connected inside theegress side interface blocks 403;

a reception side control interface block 405 serving as a reception sideinterface to the central control unit 102;

a reception side control channel block 406 connected inside thereception side control interface block 405;

a transmission side control interface block 407 serving as atransmission side interface to the central control unit 102;

a transmission side control channel block 408 connected inside thetransmission side control interface block 407;

an ingress side channel collection block 409 for collecting the ingressside channel blocks 402 and the reception side control channel block406;

an egress side channel collection block 410 for collecting the egressside channel blocks 404 and the transmission side control channel block406;

a data processing block 411 for transferring data between the ingressside channel collection block 409 and the egress side channel collectionblock 410;

a statistical function block 412 for implementing a statisticalfunction;

data load measurement blocks 413 for measuring a line (channel) load ofthe ingress side channel in the ingress side down link block 302;

a control load measurement block 414 for measuring a line (channel) loadof the reception side control channel in the reception side controlchannel block 406;

a frequency voltage control block 415 for supplying a clock and anoperation voltage to each function block on the basis of load judgmentresults;

a load information transmission block 416 for exchanging loadinformation with another network LSI; and

a load judgment control block 417 for judging a load of each functionblock by judging loads of lines (channels) and loads of function blocks.

By the way, a combination formed of at least one of the frequencyvoltage control block 228 in the search LSI 103, the frequency voltagecontrol block 315 in the transfer LSI 104 and the frequency voltagecontrol block 415 in the switch LSI 105 is simply referred to as“frequency voltage control unit” as well.

By the way, a combination formed of at least one of the load informationtransmission block 229 in the search LSI 103, the load informationtransmission block 316 in the transfer LSI 104 and the load informationtransmission block 416 in the switch LSI 105 is simply referred to as“load information transmission unit” as well.

The switch LSI 105 has a function of transferring frame data receivedfrom the transfer LSI 104 to a pertinent transfer LSI 104 on the basisof expansion information.

The switch LSI 104 further has a statistical function of, for example,counting the frame data transfer quantity.

In the present embodiment, the switch LSI 105 conducts following framedata transfer processing as described hereafter.

The ingress side interface block 401 receives frame data and transfersthe frame data to the ingress side data channel block 402. In addition,frame data of each channel is transferred from the ingress side datachannel block 402 to the ingress side channel collection block 409.

At this time, the ingress side channel collection block 409 may collectframe data of channels by using time division control.

The frame data in the ingress side channel collection block 409 istransferred to the ingress side channel collection block 410 by the dataprocessing block 411.

At this time, the data processing block 411 may conduct the frame datatransfer processing by using arbitration control between blocks.

The frame data in the egress side channel collection block 410 istransferred to an egress side data channel block 404 connected to atransfer LSI 104 which can transfer the frame data to a frame transferdestination port, in accordance with frame transfer destination portinformation contained in frame data expansion information. If the framedata is a control information frame at this time, the frame data istransferred to the transmission side control channel block 408 connectedto the central control unit 102.

At this time, the egress side channel collection block 410 may collectframe data of channels by using time division control.

The frame data in the egress side channel block 404 is transferred tothe transfer LSI 104 via the egress side interface block 403. If theframe data is a control information frame at this time, the frame datain the transmission side control channel block 408 is transferred to thecentral control unit 102 via the transmission side control interfaceblock 407.

The switch LSI 105 conducts frame data transfer processing on thecontrol information frame generated in the central control unit 102 asdescribed hereafter.

The reception side control interface block 405 receives frame data andtransfers the frame data to the reception side control channel block406. In addition, frame data in the reception side control channel block406 is transferred to the ingress side channel collection block 409. Theframe data in the ingress side channel collection block 409 istransferred to the egress side channel collection block 410 by the dataprocessing block 411. The frame data in the egress side channelcollection block 410 is transferred to an egress side data channel block404 connected to a transfer LSI 104 which can transfer the frame data toa frame transfer destination port, in accordance with frame transferdestination port information contained in frame data expansioninformation. The frame data in the egress side data channel block 404 istransferred to the transfer LSI 104 via the egress side interface block403.

In the present invention, the switch LSI 105 further has at least one ofthe following functions (17) to (19) as a load judgment function of theload judgment control block 417.

(17) “Reception load judgment function” of judging, as ingress sideprocessing, the channel load on the basis of a channel load measurementresult of reception processing (ingress processing) measured by the dataload measurement block 413

(18) “Load prediction and judgment function” of predicting and judgingload information by causing load information judged and measured by aload judgment control block or each function block in another networkLSI to be given as a notice via the load information transmission block416

(19) “Function control load judgment function” of judging a load of afunction block on the basis of information of an unnecessary functiongiven as a notice by the central control unit 102 on the basis of anoperation state of the network relay apparatus

The load judgment control block 417 determines a load judgment result ofeach function block on the basis of a combination of one or more loadjudgment functions from among (17) to (19). On the basis of the loadjudgment result of each function block thus determined, the frequencyvoltage control block 415 supplies a clock and an operation voltage toeach function block.

The central control unit 102 has the following function (20) as a loadjudgment function.

(20) “Scheduled load adjustment function” of receiving a notice ofscheduled load information which indicates a scheduled load of each lineincluded in the network relay apparatus 100, from a management serverplaced inside or outside the network relay apparatus 100 and judging ascheduled load of each line and a load of each function block

By the way, a combination formed of at least one of the load judgmentcontrol block 230 in the search LSI 103, the load judgment control block317 in the transfer LSI 104 and the load judgment control block 417 inthe switch LSI 105 is simply referred to as “load judgment control unit”as well.

In the present invention, reduction of the power consumption isimplemented by changing over, in the frequency voltage control unit, atleast one of the clock and operation voltage supplied to each of thefunction blocks in the network LSI on the basis of the load judgmentresult in the load judgment unit.

In the present invention, the load judgment method in the load judgmentunit becomes an important element in implementation of power consumptionreduction. Hereafter, the load judgment method in the load judgment unitwill be described.

A. Load judgment method based on load measurement:

B. Load judgment method based on operation state judgment of the line:

C. Load judgment method based on scheduled load exchange between networkrelay apparatuses:

D. Load judgment method based on link up state judgment of the line:

E. Load judgment method based on load information exchange betweennetwork LSIs:

F. Load judgment method based on specific function operation statejudgment:

G. Load judgment method based on the scheduled load information noticeof the management server:

A. Load Judgment Method Based on Load Measurement:

According to the present load judgment method, a load is judged on thebasis of an actual load on a channel (or line) and a load for acorresponding function block is judged on the basis of a result of theload judgment. In the present embodiment, the load judgment functionindicates a combination of at least one of (2) “reception load judgmentfunction” and (3) “transmission load judgment function” in the searchLSI 103, (13) “reception load judgment function” and (14) “transmissionload judgment function” in the transfer LSI 104, and (17) “receptionload judgment function” in the switch LSI 105. In TABLE 1 describedlater, the function blocks in the network LSI are sorted according tothe load judgment method. For example, in the case of the search LSI 103in item No. 1, it is indicated that the load of the ingress side downlink block 202 can be judged on the basis of the ingress side load ofthe channel (line). For example, in judging the load of the ingress sidedown link block 202 a shown in FIG. 2, therefore, the load should bejudged on the basis of a measurement result in the ingress side lineload measurement block 222 a by using (2) “reception load judgmentfunction” of the search LSI 103 as the load judgment function.

For example, in the case of the search LSI 103 in item No. 3 shown inTABLE 1, it is indicated that the load of the search memory access block207 can be judged on the basis of the total load on all channels in theLSI. Therefore, the load of the search memory access block 207 should bejudged by using both (2) “reception load judgment function” and (3)“transmission load judgment function” of the search LSI 103 as the loadjudgment function.

Reduction of the power consumption is implemented by changing over, inthe frequency voltage control unit, at least one of the clock andoperation voltage supplied to each of the function blocks on the basisof the load judgment result of each judged function block.

Furthermore, in the present load judgment method, occurrence of framediscarding may be prevented by using the flow control prescribed by IEEE802.3x.

B. Load Judgment Method Based on Operation State Judgment of the Line:

According to the present load judgment method, a load is judged on thebasis of a line operation state and a load on a corresponding functionblock is judged on the basis of a result of the load judgment. In thepresent embodiment, the load judgment function indicates (4) “line statejudgment function” in the search LSI 103. In (4) “line state judgmentfunction,” the line state is judged according to a protocol such as theRing, STP, VRRP, GSRP, VSRP or FVRP by analyzing, in the central controlunit 102, the control information frame exchanged between network relayapparatuses and the load of a line judged as a standby system line isjudged.

In a protocol such as the VRRP, GSRP, VSRP or FVRP, the whole apparatusis used as a standby system apparatus sometimes.

The line state judgment may be executed every frame reception. FIG. 5shows a routine of line state judgment processing (step S50) conductedwhenever a frame is received. As an example, operation in the STP willnow be described.

At step S500, frame reception on the line is recognized and theprocessing is advanced to step S510. At the step S510, a judgment ismade about whether the received frame is a control information frame.The judgment of the control information frame is made by, for example,analyzing a frame header in the search LSI 103. If a frame other thanthe control information frame is received, the processing is advanced tostep S511. At the step S511, the line state is maintained. In the STP,nothing is conducted as processing.

If the received frame is the control information frame at the step S510,then the processing is advanced to step S520. At the step S520, thereceived control information frame is transferred to the central controlunit 102 and the processing is advanced to step S530. At the step S530,the received control information frame is analyzed and a judgment ismade about whether the line is a standby system line. The analysis ofthe control information frame is conducted in the central control unit102 according to protocol processing. If the line is judged to be astandby system line, the processing is advanced to step S540. If theline is judged to be in the blocking state, the line is judged to be astandby system line in the STP. At the step S540, the line is processedas a standby system line. A notice that the line is a standby systemline is given to a load judgment control block 230 in the search LSI 103having the pertinent line.

If the line is not judged to be a standby system line at the step S530,the processing is advanced to step S531. At the step S531, the receivedcontrol information frame is analyzed and a judgment is made aboutwhether the line is an operational system line. The analysis of thecontrol information is conducted in the central unit on the basis ofprotocol processing. If the line is judged to be an operational systemline, the processing is advanced to step S541. If the line is judged tobe in the listening state, the learning state, or the forwarding state,the line is judged to be an operational system line in the STP. At thestep S541, the line is processed as an operational system line. If theline is an operational system line, the load judgment control block 230in the search LSI 103 having the pertinent line is notified thereof.

If the line is not judged to be an operational system line, theprocessing is advanced to step S532. At the step S532, the line state ismaintained. In the STP, nothing is conducted as processing. For example,in the case of the search LSI 103 in item No. 1 shown in TABLE 1, it isindicated that the load of the ingress side down link block 202 can bejudged on the basis of the ingress side load of the channel (line). Forexample, in judging the load of the ingress side down link block 202 ashown in FIG. 2, therefore, (4) “line state judgment function” in thesearch LSI 103 is used as the load judgment function. If the lineconnected to the down link interface block 201 a is judged to be astandby system line, then the load exerted upon the line is consideredto be at a level of transmitting and receiving a control informationframe. As a result, the load of the ingress side down link block 202 acan be judged.

Reduction of the power consumption is implemented by changing over, inthe frequency voltage control unit, at least one of the clock andoperation voltage supplied to each of the function blocks on the basisof the load judgment result of each judged function block.

C. Load Judgment Method Based on Scheduled Load Exchange between NetworkRelay Apparatuses:

In the present load judgment method, the load is judged by exchanging ascheduled transmission load of every line between network relayapparatuses and the load for a corresponding function block is judged onthe basis of a result of the load judgment. In the present embodiment,(5) “scheduled load judgment function” in the search LSI 103 isindicated as the load judgment function.

In the present load judgment method, (1) “frame analysis function” inthe search LSI 103 and (9) “control information generation function” inthe search LSI 103 may be combined to function.

The present load judgment method in the case where (1) “frame analysisfunction” and (9) “control information generation function” are notcombined in the search LSI 103 includes the steps of transferring acontrol information frame received on the line to the central controlunit 102, judging a scheduled load on a reception line which receivestransmission from another network apparatus on the basis of an analysisresult in the central control unit 102, and generating and transferringa control information frame which indicates a scheduled transmissionload for another network relay apparatus in the central control unit 102on the basis of a result of transmission load judgment judged by using(3) “transmission load judgment function” of every line.

When combined in function with (1) “frame analysis function” in thesearch LSI 103, the control information frame received by the line isanalyzed in the frame analysis block 223 in the search LSI 103 withoutbe passed through the central control unit 102 by using (1) “frameanalysis function” in the search LSI 103 and a scheduled load on areception line which receives transmission from another networkapparatus is judged.

When combined in function with (9) “control information generationfunction” in the search LSI 103, a control information frame whichindicates a scheduled transmission load for another network relayapparatus is generated and transferred without passing through thecentral control unit 102 on the basis of the transmission load judgmentresult of each line in the search LSI 103 (judged on the basis of (3)“transmission load judgment function”) by using (9) “control informationgeneration function” in the search LSI 103.

In the present load judgment method, control information frame analysisprocessing and control information frame generation processing can beexecuted without passing through the central processing unit 102 inscheduled load exchange by combining the present load judgment methodwith these functions.

Furthermore, the present load judgment method may be combined infunction with the frame transmission control function in the search LSI103. The frame transmission control function in the search LSI 103 hasat least one of (10) band control function of conducting transmission byusing a band fitted to a scheduled load as a band for transmission to anopposite apparatus, (11) delay control function for a frame which mustbe transmitted with a low latency during execution of the band control,and (12) “discarding control function” of executing discarding of a lowpriority frame when frame discarding occurs during execution of the bandcontrol.

Hereafter, it is supposed that the present load judgment method is madeto function by combining (1) “frame analysis function” in the search LSI103 with (9) “control information generation function” in the search LSI103.

In the ensuing description, however, processing conducted by (1) “frameanalysis function” in the search LSI 103 with (9) “control informationgeneration function” in the search LSI 103 may be conducted by thecentral processing unit 102.

In (10) “band control function,” band control processing can beconducted on network traffic transmitted from the network relayapparatus to the opposite apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a time-series graph which indicates avariation of the network traffic obtained when the band controlprocessing is not executed. The graph in FIG. 6 shows the variation ofthe network traffic, link up speed and scheduled load obtained when theband control processing is not executed, in a time series form. In thegraph shown in FIG. 6, the link up speed is 10 Gbps and the scheduledload is 4 Gbps.

In FIG. 6, however, burst transfer of network traffic occursinstantaneously and the scheduled load is exceeded at time t1. Theopposite apparatus lowers the processing performance of the lineaccording to the scheduled load given as a notice by using the controlinformation frame. Therefore, it is considered that frame discardingoccurs if burst transfer of network traffic occurs.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a time-series graph which indicates avariation of the network traffic obtained when the band controlprocessing is executed. The graph in FIG. 7 shows the variation of thenetwork traffic, link up speed and scheduled load obtained when the bandcontrol processing is executed, in a time series form. In the graphshown in FIG. 7, the link up speed is 10 Gbps and the scheduled load is4 Gbps.

In the case of the graph shown in FIG. 7, the network relay apparatusexecutes band control processing on network traffic to be transmitted tothe opposite apparatus with the scheduled load set as an upper limit.Therefore, it is considered that frame discarding is not occurring inthe opposite apparatus.

The case where frame discarding occurs even if band control with thescheduled load set as un upper limit is executed is considerable. FIG. 8shows an example of a time-series graph which indicates a variation ofthe network traffic obtained when the band control processing is notexecuted in the same way as FIG. 6. The graph in FIG. 8 shows thevariation of the network traffic, link up speed and scheduled loadobtained when the band control processing is not executed, in a timeseries form. In the graph shown in FIG. 8, the link up speed is 10 Gbps.

In the graph shown in FIG. 8, burst transfer of network traffic occursin the same way as the graph shown in FIG. 6.

For example, in the case of the graph shown in FIG. 8, it is consideredthat frame discarding occurs if the scheduled load of the line is 4 Gbpsand the band control is not executed.

On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 8, it is considered that framediscarding occurs in the network relay apparatus even if the bandcontrol processing is executed on the network traffic to be transmittedto the opposite apparatus with the scheduled load 4 Gbps set as theupper limit because the load of the network traffic is too large ascompared with the scheduled load.

In the present load judgment method, therefore, frame discarding may beprevented by conducting scheduled load variation judgment processing ofjudging the variation of the line transmission scheduled load andvarying the scheduled load according to the network traffic by using (9)“control information generation function” in the search LSI 103.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a scheduled load variation judgmentprocessing (step S90) routine. In FIG. 9, the scheduled load is set toone of four values: 4 Gbps, 6 Gbps, 8 Gbps and 10 Gbps, and scheduledload variation thresholds to be compared with the line load to vary thescheduled load are provided with the same values as the scheduled load.

At step S900, the load judgment control block 230 in the search LSI 103judges a transmission load of a line by using (3) “transmission loadjudgment function” and the processing is advanced to step S910. At thestep S910, it is judged whether the transmission load judgment result ofthe line is less than 8 Gbps by using (9) “control informationgeneration function” in the search LSI 103. If the transmission loadjudgment result of the line is at least 8 Gbps, the processing isadvanced to step S911. At the step S911, the opposite apparatus isnotified that the scheduled load of the line is 10 Gbps.

If the line transmission load judgment result is less than 8 Gbps at thestep S910, the processing is advanced to step S920. At the step S920, itis judged whether the scheduled load of the line is less than 8 Gbps. Ifthe scheduled load of the line is at least 8 Gbps, the processing isadvanced to step S921. At the step S921, it is judged whether thetransmission load judgment result of the line has become less than 8Gbps continuously over a definite time period. Unless the transmissionload judgment result of the line has become less than 8 Gbpscontinuously over the definite time period, the processing is advancedto step S922. At the step S922, the scheduled load of the line ismaintained.

If the transmission load judgment result of the line has become lessthan 8 Gbps continuously over the definite time period at the step S921,the processing is advanced to step S931. At the step S931, the oppositeapparatus is notified that the scheduled load of the line is 8 Gbps.

If the scheduled load of the line is less than 8 Gbps at the step S920,the processing is advanced to step S930. At the step S930, it is judgedwhether the transmission load judgment result of the line is less than 6Gbps. If the transmission load judgment result of the line is at least 6Gbps, the processing is advanced to step S931. At the step S931, theopposite apparatus is notified that the scheduled load of the line is 8Gbps.

If the line transmission load judgment result is less than 6 Gbps at thestep S930, the processing is advanced to step S940. At the step S940, itis judged whether the scheduled load of the line is less than 6 Gbps. Ifthe scheduled load of the line is at least 6 Gbps, the processing isadvanced to step S941. At the step S941, it is judged whether thetransmission load judgment result of the line has become less than 6Gbps continuously over a definite time period. Unless the transmissionload judgment result of the line has become less than 6 Gbpscontinuously over the definite time period, the processing is advancedto step S942. At the step S942, the scheduled load of the line ismaintained.

If the transmission load judgment result of the line has become lessthan 6 Gbps continuously over the definite time period at the step S941,the processing is advanced to step S951. At the step S951, the oppositeapparatus is notified that the scheduled load of the line is 6 Gbps.

If the scheduled load of the line is less than 6 Gbps at the step S940,the processing is advanced to step S950. At the step S950, it is judgedwhether the transmission load judgment result of the line is less than 4Gbps. If the transmission load judgment result of the line is at least 4Gbps, the processing is advanced to step S951. At the step S951, theopposite apparatus is notified that the scheduled load of the line is 6Gbps.

If the transmission load judgment result of the line is less than 4 Gbpsat the step S950, the processing is advanced to step S960. At the stepS960, the opposite apparatus is notified that the scheduled load of theline is 4 Gbps.

Since the graph in FIG. 8 shows the variation of the network trafficobtained when the band control processing is not executed, the graph isregarded as the result of the transmission load judgment of the line.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a graph obtained after band controlprocessing based on the scheduled load variation judgment processing isconducted on the network traffic shown in FIG. 8. The graph in FIG. 10shows a variation of the network traffic, a variation of the scheduledload, a variation of the processing capability, and the link up speedobtained when the band control processing based on the scheduled loadvariation judgment processing is executed, in a time series form.

The ensuing description will be made with reference to FIGS. 8 and 10.In FIGS. 8 and 10, each of t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7 and t8 indicatesthe same time.

In FIG. 8, the transmission load judgment result of the line is at least4 Gbps and less than 6 Gbps and the scheduled load of the line is 4 Gbpsat time t1. At time t2, therefore, the opposite apparatus is notifiedthat the scheduled load of the line is 6 Gbps and the scheduled load inFIG. 10 is changed to 6 Gbps. However, the processing capability variesaccording to the notice of the scheduled load. When increasing thescheduled load, therefore, the network relay apparatus transmits thecontrol information frame to the opposite apparatus to notify it of thescheduled load variation, waits for a time period (t2−t1) until theprocessing capability increases, and increases the scheduled load. Byincreasing the scheduled load of the network relay apparatus to 6 Gbps,band control processing is conducted so as to make the upper limit ofnetwork traffic directed from the network relay apparatus to theopposite apparatus equal to 6 Gbps.

In the present load judgment method, the scheduled load of the networkrelay apparatus may be increased after a response frame such as acontrol information frame for increasing the processing capability isreceived from the opposite apparatus after transmission of a controlinformation frame.

Since the transmission load judgment result of the line is at least 8Gbps at time t2 in FIG. 8, the opposite apparatus is notified that thescheduled load of the line is 10 Gbps. Thereafter, in the network relayapparatus, the scheduled load in FIG. 10 is changed to 8 Gbps at time t3and the scheduled load in FIG. 10 is changed to 10 Gbps at time t4. Inthis way, the scheduled load is increased stepwise.

If the transmission load judgment result of the line in FIG. 8 is atleast 6 Gbps and less than 8 Gbps at time t4, however, the scheduledload is maintained.

As a result, it is considered that frame discarding occurs in the graphshown in FIG. 10 neither in the network relay apparatus nor in theopposite apparatus.

The definite time period in FIG. 9 is denoted by Δt. In the ensuingdescription, the difference between the time t6 and the time t5, thedifference between the time t7 and the time t6, and the differencebetween the time t8 and the time t7 is at least Δt.

In FIG. 8, the transmission load judgment result of the line is lessthan 8 Gbps continuously over a time period between the time t5 and thetime t6, and the scheduled load of the line is 10 Gbps over the timeperiod. At time t6, therefore, the scheduled load is changed to 8 Gbps.Furthermore, in FIG. 8, the transmission load judgment result of theline is less than 6 Gbps continuously over a time period between thetime t6 and the time t7, and the scheduled load of the line is 8 Gbpsover the time period. At time t7, therefore, the scheduled load ischanged to 6 Gbps. Furthermore, in FIG. 8, the transmission loadjudgment result of the line is less than 8 Gbps continuously over a timeperiod between the time t7 and the time t8, and the scheduled load ofthe line is 6 Gbps over the time period. At time t8, therefore, thescheduled load is changed to 4 Gbps.

When reducing the scheduled load, however, a control information frameis transmitted to the opposite apparatus to notify it of the scheduledload variation. At this time, it is not necessary to wait for theopposite apparatus to lower the processing capability. Therefore,reduction of the scheduled load may be conducted simultaneously with thenotice of the scheduled load variation.

It is supposed that the processing capability is always at least thescheduled load in the graph shown in FIG. 10.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 9, the scheduled load is set to one offour values: 4 Gbps, 6 Gbps, 8 Gbps and 10 Gbps. Alternatively, anarbitrary number of arbitrary values may be specified.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 9, the scheduled load variationthreshold is provided with the same values as those of the scheduledload. Alternatively, the scheduled load variation threshold may beprovided with values different from those of the scheduled load.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 9, the scheduled load variationthreshold is provided with the same values regardless of whether thescheduled load variation is increasing or decreasing. Alternatively, thescheduled load variation threshold may be provided with different valuesdepending on whether the scheduled load variation is increasing ordecreasing.

In FIG. 10, the processing performance is changed in proportion to thetime. However, this differs according to the control method of theprocessing performance.

In the operation of the LSI, there is a fear that the operation of theLSI might become unstable when the operation voltage has changedabruptly, resulting in a failure of the LSI in the worst case. Theabrupt change of the operation voltage also occurs when the clock ischanged abruptly. Therefore, the changeover of the clock or theoperation voltage cannot be conducted abruptly.

When a small value which is small as compared with the processingperformance of the line is set as the scheduled load of the line andthen the scheduled load of the line is increased, therefore, thescheduled load of the line is increased stepwise while improving theprocessing performance. As a result, it becomes possible to suppress anabrupt change of the clock or the operation voltage in the present loadjudgment method.

According to (11) “delay control function,” delay control processing forconducting transmission without generating a delay in arrival timebecomes possible in communication such as IP telephone in which thedelay in arrival time caused by the band control poses a problem.

According to (12) “discarding control function,” discarding controlprocessing for discarding low priority frames in order to protect highpriority frames when burst transfer of network traffic has occurred in anetwork relay apparatus which does not have (10) “band control function”becomes possible.

A network relay apparatus having (10) “band control function” may beequipped with (12) “discarding control function.” This is because thereis a fear that frame discarding might occur even in a network relayapparatus having (10) “band control function” if burst transfer ofextremely special network traffic such as a DDoS (Distributed Denial ofService) attack takes place.

Owing to the load judgment method heretofore described, it becomespossible for the opposite apparatus to judge a load on a reception lineon the basis of a scheduled load given as a notice. For example, in thecase of the search LSI 103 in item No. 1 shown in TABLE 1, it isindicated that the load of the ingress side down link block 202 can bejudged on the basis of the ingress side load of the line. For example,in judging, in the opposite apparatus, the load of the ingress side downlink block 202 a shown in FIG. 2, therefore, it is possible to judge ascheduled load laid upon a line connected to the down link interfaceblock 201 a by using (5) “scheduled load judgment function” in thesearch LSI 103 as the load judgment function and judge a load of theingress side down link block 202 a on the basis of the scheduled load.

Reduction of the power consumption is implemented by changing over, inthe frequency voltage control unit, at least one of the clock andoperation voltage supplied to each of the function blocks on the basisof the load judgment result of each judged function block.

D. Load Judgment Method Based on Link Up State Judgment of the Line:

According to the present load judgment method, a load of the line isjudged on the basis of a link up state of every line between networkrelay apparatuses and a load on a corresponding function block is judgedon the basis of a result of the load judgment. In the presentembodiment, the load judgment function indicates (6) “line load upperlimit judgment function” in the search LSI 103.

As the link up state, there are link up and link down. In the link up,there is further a link up state of every line speed. In other words, ifthe line speed at the time of link up is changed over among 10 Mbps, 100Mbps and 1,000 Mbps as in 1000BASE-T prescribed in IEEE802.3ab, eachline speed becomes an upper limit of the line load.

In (6) “line load upper limit judgment function,” the upper limit of theline load is judged on the basis of the link up state of the line givenas a notice by the central control unit 102. The link up state given asa notice includes information which represents whether each line islinked up and a line speed in the case where the line is linked up. In(6) “line load upper limit judgment function,” therefore, a line loadcan be judged on the basis of a line speed of a line linked up among aplurality of lines. In (6) “line load upper limit judgment function,”therefore, the line load can be judged on the basis of a line speed of aline linked up among a plurality of lines. For example, in the case ofthe search LSI 103 in item No. 1 shown in TABLE 1, it is indicated thatthe load of the ingress side down link block 202 can be judged on thebasis of the ingress side load of the channel (line). For example, injudging the load of the ingress side down link block 202 a shown in FIG.2, therefore, (6) “line load upper limit judgment function” in thesearch LSI 103 is used as the load judgment function and the line loadbased on the line speed is judged on the basis of a link up state of aline connected to the down link interface block 201 a. On the basis of aresult of the judgment, the load of the ingress side down link block 202can be judged.

For example, in the case of the search LSI 103 in item No. 3 shown inTABLE 1, it is indicated that the load of the search memory access block207 can be judged on the basis of the total load on all channels in theLSI. For example, in judging the load of the search memory access block207 shown in FIG. 2, therefore, (6) “line load upper limit judgmentfunction” in the search LSI 103 is used as the load judgment functionand a total value of line loads corresponding to line speeds of lineslinked up is judged. On the basis of a result of the judgment, the loadof the search memory access block 207 can be judged.

Reduction of the power consumption is implemented by changing over, inthe frequency voltage control unit, at least one of the clock andoperation voltage supplied to each of the function blocks on the basisof the load judgment result of each judged function block.

E. Load Judgment Method Based on Load Information Exchange betweenNetwork LSIs:

According to the present load judgment method, a load for acorresponding network LSI is judged on the basis of load information ofa network LSI in a preceding stage by exchanging load informationbetween network LSIs. In the present embodiment, the load judgmentfunction indicates a combination of at least one of (18) “loadprediction and judgment function” in the switch LSI 105, (15) “loadprediction and judgment function” in the transfer LSI 104, and (7) “loadprediction and judgment function” in the search LSI 103.

Paying attention to the load of the ingress side down link block 302 inthe transfer LSI 104 in item No. 1 shown in TABLE 1, it is indicatedthat the load is judged on the basis of the ingress side load of thechannel. Therefore, loads of all lines measured by the ingress side lineload measurement blocks 222 a to 222 d in the search LSI 103 are causedto be given as a notice by using (15) “load prediction and judgmentfunction” in the transfer LSI 104 as the load judgment function. As aresult, the load of the ingress side down link block 302 in the transferLSI 104 connected to the search LSI 103 can be judged on the basis ofthe total of the loads of all lines. Furthermore, it is also possible tojudge the total load of the four switch LSIs 105 on the basis of thetotal of loads of the ingress side down link blocks 302 in all transferLSIs 104 a to 104 d.

Loads of the egress side down link blocks 203 in each search LSI 103 (ina column of item No. 2 and search LSI 103 shown in TABLE 1), the egressside up link blocks in each search LSI 103 (in a column of item No. 5and search LSI 103 shown in TABLE 1), and the egress side down linkblocks 303 (in a column of item No. 2 and transfer LSI 104 shown inTABLE 1) can be judged by causing the ingress side load measurementblock 224 in every search LSI 103 to measure the line load of everyframe transfer destination port and causing the total of loadmeasurement results of every frame transfer destination port in allsearch LSIs 103 included in the network relay apparatus to be given as anotice by using (7) “load prediction and judgment function” in eachsearch LSI 103 and (15) “load prediction and judgment function” in eachtransfer LSI 104.

Reduction of the power consumption is implemented by changing over, inthe frequency voltage control unit, at least one of the clock andoperation voltage supplied to each of the function blocks on the basisof the load judgment result of each judged function block.

F. Load Judgment Method Based on Specific Function Operation StateJudgment:

According to the present load judgment method, the central control unit102 judges a function which is not used and which is included infunctions in the network LSI on the basis of the operation state of thenetwork relay apparatus, and judges the load of the pertinent functionblock. In the present embodiment, the load judgment function indicates acombination of at least one of (19) “function control load judgmentfunction” in the switch LSI 105, (16) “function control load judgmentfunction” in the transfer LSI 104, and (8) “function control loadjudgment function” in the search LSI 103.

In other words, the central control unit 102 judges functions which areincluded in the statistical function, QoS control function, and variouspower consumption reducing functions and which are not used, and judgesthe load of each function block. They are exemplified in item No. 11 inTABLE 1.

Reduction of the power consumption is implemented by changing over, inthe frequency voltage control unit, at least one of the clock andoperation voltage supplied to each of the function blocks on the basisof the load judgment result of each judged function block.

G. Load Judgment Method Based on the Scheduled Load Information Noticeof the Management Server:

In the present load judgment method, the central processing unit 102receives a notice of scheduled load information which indicates ascheduled load for each of one or more lines included in the networkrelay apparatus, from a management server located inside or outside thenetwork relay apparatus, and judges a scheduled load of each line or aload of each function block on the basis of the scheduled loadinformation. In the present embodiment, the load judgment functionindicates a combination of at least one of (7) “load prediction andjudgment function” in the search LSI 103, (1) “frame analysis function”in the search LSI 103, (15) “load prediction and judgment function” inthe transfer LSI 104, (18) “load prediction and judgment function” inthe switch LSI 105, and (20) “scheduled load adjustment function.” Bythe way, it is desirable to transfer scheduled load information in thepresent load judgment method in a packet form so as to be able to give anotice even to a network relay apparatus located at a physical distancevia another network relay apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a subnetwork which includes network relayapparatuses A to H and management servers A and B. The network relayapparatuses A to H are also connected to other network relay apparatusesand servers which are not illustrated. In the present embodiment, themanagement server A gives notice of scheduled load information to thenetwork relay apparatuses A to E and the management server B in thenetwork relay apparatus E gives notice of the scheduled load informationto the network relay apparatuses F to H. The scheduled load informationincludes a scheduled transmission load and a scheduled reception load.However, only one of them may be given as a notice. The scheduledreception load may be judged by giving only the scheduled transmissionload and exchanging scheduled loads between network relay apparatuses inthe same way as “C. load judgment method based on scheduled loadexchange between network relay apparatuses.”

Upon receiving a control information packet which stores scheduled loadinformation of each line from the management server A or B, the networkrelay apparatus A-H transfers the control information packet to thecentral control unit 102. The central control unit 102 analyzes thecontrol information packet, extracts scheduled load information, andjudges the scheduled load of each line. Furthermore, the central controlunit 102 judges the load of each function block in each network LSI onthe basis of the scheduled load of each line, and gives notice to atleast one of the load information transmission block 229 in the searchLSI 103, the load information transmission block 316 in the transfer LSI104, and the load information transmission block 416 in the switch LSI105.

An example of judgment on a load of a function block will now bedescribed. For example, in the case of the search LSI 103 in item No. 1shown in TABLE 1, the load of the ingress side down link block 202 canbe judged on the basis of the ingress side load of a channel (line).Therefore, the load of the ingress side down link block 202 can bejudged on the basis of a scheduled reception load extracted fromscheduled load information.

It is also possible that the central control unit 102 transmits thescheduled load of each line to each network LSI and the load judgmentcontrol block in each network LSI judges the load of each functionblock. Furthermore, it is also possible for the frame analysis block 223in the search LSI 103 to execute as proxy a part or the whole of theprocessing conducted in the central control unit 102 by analyzing acontrol information packet transmitted from the management server,executing scheduled load information, and giving notice to other networkLSIs.

In the present embodiment, each of the management servers A and B judgesoptimum performance with which the network relay apparatus shouldoperate (for example, the reception line load or the transmission lineload with which operation should be guaranteed), and gives notice of theoptimum performance to the network relay apparatuses A to H as scheduledload information which indicates the scheduled load of each line. Theoptimum performance judgment method includes at least one of a judgmentmethod based on the load measurement result in the network relayapparatus, a judgment method using prediction based on statistical dataor frequency analysis, a judgment method for judging optimum performanceby setting a time zone in which traffic already known in networkmanagement decreases or increases, and a judgment method based oncontents preset in the management server as a schedule by describing aschedule of events which can be predicted beforehand and which areincluded in events considered to vary the network traffic such as theWorld Cup of soccer or the Olympics on an event calendar. The managementserver need only give notice of scheduled load information to eachnetwork relay apparatus on the basis of optimum performance obtained bythe judgment, and the judgment method of the optimum performance in themanagement server does not especially matter. As regards events whichcannot be predicted beforehand among events, such as disasters,incidents and accidents, considered to take place suddenly and vary thenetwork traffic, scheduled load information may be given to each networkrelay apparatus as a notice by a program in the management server oroperation of the manager.

FIG. 12 is a graph obtained when the scheduled load is judged on thebasis of scheduled load information given as a notice by the managementserver and processing performance is changed. The variation of thenetwork traffic obtained when the band control is not executed, the linkup speed, processing performance, scheduled load, and scheduled loadinformation are shown in a time series form. The link up speed of theline is 10 Gbps. In the present embodiment, the management server givesnotice of scheduled load information of 10 Gbps in a time period betweentime t1 and time t2, and gives notice of scheduled load information of 6Gbps at time which does not belong to the time period. This is the casewhere the optimum performance is set in the management server so as toreduce the scheduled load information at specific time (time other thanthe time period between the time t1 and the time t2) with the object ofreducing the power consumption quantity at specific time when thetraffic reduction can be anticipated. In the present embodiment, ajudgment is made by using scheduled load information given as a noticeby the management server, intact as the scheduled load of the line. As aresult, power consumption quantity reduction at specific time can beimplemented on the pertinent line.

In the graph shown in FIG. 12, a load which exceeds the scheduled loadoccurs at time t3. In order to cope with such a case, it becomespossible for a network relay apparatus which transmits network trafficshown in FIG. 12 to transmit network traffic in the range of thescheduled load by further combining at least one of (10) band controlfunction, (11) delay control function, and (12) discarding controlfunction.

At specific time (time other than the time period between the time t1and the time t2) in FIG. 12, the processing performance according to thescheduled load need only be ensured and consequently the powerconsumption quantity can be reduced by judging the load of a functionblock in each network LSI on the basis of the scheduled load.Heretofore, seven load judgment methods A to G have been described. Itis also possible to obtain a greater effect by not only using each loadjudgment function singly but also using load judgment functions incombination.

If at least one of “B. load judgment method based on operation statejudgment of the line,” “D. load judgment method based on link up statejudgment of the line,” “E. load judgment method based on loadinformation exchange between network LSIs” and “G. load judgment methodbased on the scheduled load information notice of the management server”is combined with “C. load judgment method based on scheduled loadexchange between network relay apparatuses,” the precision of the loadjudgment result used in the control information generation block 226 inthe search LSI 103 is considered to be improved.

FIG. 13 is a graph obtained when a combination of the functions (10) to(12), “C. load judgment method based on scheduled load exchange betweennetwork relay apparatuses” and “G. load judgment method based on thescheduled load information notice of the management server” is appliedto the network traffic shown in FIG. 12. The graph in FIG. 13 shows avariation of network traffic obtained when band control processing basedon the scheduled load variation judgment processing is executed, avariation of the scheduled load, a variation of processing capability,the link up speed, a variation of scheduled load information (upperlimit) and a variation of scheduled load information (lower limit) in atime series form. In the present embodiment, two kinds of scheduled loadinformation are shown. However, there is no limit in the number of kindsof scheduled load information. As for scheduled load variation judgmentprocessing, the scheduled load and scheduled load variation thresholdare varied by taking 2 Gbps as the unit in the example shown in FIGS. 9and 10. In the present embodiment, however, the scheduled load andscheduled load variation threshold are varied by using a smaller unit.

Hereafter, FIG. 13 will be described. In the present embodiment, themanagement server gives notice of scheduled load information (upperlimit) of 10 Gbps in a time period between time t1 and time t4, andgives notice of scheduled load information (upper limit) of 6 Gbps attime which does not belong to the time period between time t1 and timet4. In the same way, the management server gives notice of scheduledload information (lower limit) of 4 Gbps in a time period between timet2 and time t3, and gives notice of scheduled load information (lowerlimit) of 1 Gbps at time which does not belong to the time periodbetween time t2 and time t3. In the present embodiment, the upper limitvalue and the lower limit value at the time of scheduled load variationare determined on the basis of a plurality of kinds of scheduled loadinformation. At time t2, therefore, the scheduled load rises regardlessof the load of the network traffic. At time t5, the scheduled loadindicates a scheduled load value which is equal to the scheduled loadinformation (upper limit) without following an increase of the networktraffic. At time t6, the scheduled load indicates a scheduled load valuewhich is equal to the scheduled load information (lower limit) withoutfollowing a decrease of the network traffic. Such control can beexercised by, for example, judging whether a scheduled load to be givenas a notice is in a range between the upper limit value and the lowerlimit value, and giving notice of the upper limit value as the scheduledload if the scheduled load exceeds the upper limit value or givingnotice of the lower limit value as the scheduled load if the scheduledload is less than the lower limit value at steps (S911, S931, S951 andS960) of giving notice of scheduled load in FIG. 9. It becomes possibleto reduce the power consumption in a time zone in which the networktraffic is low by providing an upper limit value of the scheduled load.In addition, it becomes possible to ensure the network traffic at thelowest limit by providing a lower limit value of the scheduled load. Inthe network relay apparatus, the load of each function block in eachnetwork LSI is judged on the basis of the scheduled load becauseprocessing performance based on the scheduled load should be ensured.

In the network relay apparatus which transmits the network traffic atthe time t5, it becomes possible to transmit the network traffic withinthe range of the scheduled load by combining at least one of (10) bandcontrol function, (11) delay control function, and (12) discardingcontrol function and bringing the combination into effect. The decreaseof reliability can be minimized in the network relay apparatus in thelow power consumption state.

In the present invention, the load of each channel (line) in eachnetwork LSI and the load of a function block which implements a specificfunction can be judged on the basis of results of load judgment usingthese load judgment methods. Furthermore, loads of function blocks ineach network LSI can be judged on the basis of the load of each channel(line), loads of function blocks which implement specific functions, andloads of specific function blocks at the time of maximum performanceoperation.

Loads of function blocks are classified into loads judged on the basisof the ingress side load of the channel, loads judged on the basis ofthe egress side load of the channel, loads judged on the basis of thetotal load of all channels in the LSI, loads judged on the basis of thetotal ingress side load of all channels in the LSI, loads judged on thebasis of the total egress side load of all channels in the LSI, loadsjudged on the basis of the maximum value of ingress side loads of allchannels in the LSI, loads judged on the basis of the maximum value ofegress side loads of all channels in the LSI, loads judged supposingthat the load is always maximum, loads judged supposing that the ingressside load is always maximum, loads judged supposing that the load isalways maximum, loads judged supposing that the egress side load isalways maximum, and loads judged on the basis of the use state of thefunction. TABLE 1 shows classification of function blocks in eachnetwork LSI.

TABLE 1 Search LSI 103 Transfer LSI 104 Switch LSI 105 1 Loads judged onthe Ingress side down link block 202 Ingress side down link blockIngress side basis of ingress side 302, data channel load of channelIngress side up link block 307 block 402, R side control channel block406 2 Loads judged on the Egress side down link block 203 Egress sidedown link block 303, Egress side basis of egress side Egress side uplink block 308 data channel load of channel block 404, T side controlchannel block 408 3 Loads judged on the Search memory access block 207,Data processing block 311 Data processing basis of total load of Buffermemory access block 212, block 411 all channels in LSI Data processingblock 219 4 Loads judged on the Ingress side up link block 217 basis oftotal ingress side load of all channels in LSI 5 Loads judged on theEgress side up link block 218 basis of total egress side load of allchannels in LSI 6 loads judged on the Ingress side line collection block204 Ingress side down link Ingress side basis of maximum valuecollection block 304, channel of ingress side loads of Ingress side uplink collection collection all channels in LSI block 309 block 409 7Loads judged on the Egress side line collection block 205 Egress sidedown link collection Egress side basis of maximum value block 305,channel of egress side loads of Egress side up link collectioncollection all channels in LSI block 310 block 410 8 Loads judgedsupposing Down link I/F block 201, Down link I/F block 301, Frequencythat load is always Search memory I/F block 206, Up link I/F block 306,voltage control maximum Buffer memory I/F block 211, Frequency voltagecontrol block block 415 Up link I/F block 216, 315 Frequency voltagecontrol block 228 9 Loads judged supposing Ingress side that ingressside load I/F block 401, is always maximum R side control I/F block 40510 Loads judged supposing Egress side I/F that egress side load is block403, always maximum T side control I/F block 407 11 Loads judged on theQoS control function block 220, Statistical function block 312,Statistical basis of use state of Statistical function block 221,Ingress side load measurement function block function Ingress side lineload measurement block 222, block 313, 412, Frame analysis block 223,Egress side load measurement Data load Ingress side load measurementblock 224, block 314, measurement Egress side load measurement block225, Load information transmission block 413, Control informationgeneration block 226, block 316, Control load Frame transmission controlblock 227, Load judgment control block 317 measurement Load informationtransmission block 229, block 414, Load judgment control block 230 Loadinformation transmission block 416, Load judgment control block 417

-   -   Continued . . . .

It is appreciated that the load judgment control block in each networkLSI can judge loads of all function blocks by thus conducting theclassification. The frequency voltage control block 228 in the searchLSI 103, the frequency voltage control block 315 in the transfer LSI 104and the frequency voltage control block 415 in the switch LSI 105control at least one of the clock and the operation voltage everyfunction block in each LSI on the basis of the result of the loadjudgment. As a result, power consumption can be reduced.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art thatalthough the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of theinvention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. A first communication apparatus comprising: a receiver unit whichreceives a control frame from a second communication apparatus; aplurality of function blocks to conduct data transfer via a line; a loaddetermination unit which determines a load of the function blockcorresponding to the line via which the control frame is received basedon the received control frame; and a power control unit which controlspower for the function block depending on the determined load of thefunction block.
 2. The first communication apparatus according to claim1, wherein the load determination unit analyzes the received controlframe to determine a load of the function block.
 3. The firstcommunication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power controlunit which supplies an operation voltage to the function block tocontrol the power.
 4. The first communication apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the control frame is a first control frame indicatingwhether the line carrying the control frame is a standby system line oran operational system line.
 5. The first communication apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the control frame is a second controlframe which stores information on scheduled load of transmission trafficthat a control relay apparatus transmits.